French Portage Road

The French Portage Road was a portage between Lake Erie and Chautauqua Lake in the present-day Chautauqua County, New York, that ran for approximately 9 miles between the present-day Westfield and Mayville. Native Americans used the course of the road as a trail in ancient times because it offers the shortest land route between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River systems. French explorers discovered the trail in 1615 and used it periodically thereafter. In 1749 an expedition under the command of Celeron de Bienville, on a mission to claim the Ohio Valley for the French, landed at the mouth of Chautauqua Creek then traversed the old trail on their way to the Allegheny River and thus to the Ohio River. In 1753 another expedition of 200 men under the command of Frenchman Hughs Pean in four days hacked out a road to Chautauqua Lake through the hardwood forests that lined the trail. That road was still in evidence in 1802 when settlers first moved into the area, and they called it the "Old French Road". Today New York State Route 394 roughly follows the course of the old road.